Lenders or borrowers, our series Behind the scenes goes on with Head of Credit in Spain! Now is the time for you to find out how our Credit Team works.
In this third article we sit down with Sergio del Pozo, has been with October since 2017.
Would you like to discover the Credit Team in all our countries? Visit the About us section of our website and meet the team!
Who are the members of the team and their mission?
Our Credit team is made up of more than 14 people across Europe. Marc Sebag leads the team at a European level. Each country has a Credit Leader and a team of analysts who follow a comprehensive credit policy.
The mission of the Credit Team is to assess and manage the risk for each borrower and our overall lending portfolio.
We do so by identifying and analyzing risks in compliance with our Credit policy and with the help of the full October toolbox.
To what extent do you work with the Spanish team and with the international team?
Although each department has its own functions, in October the Credit team works hand in hand with the Sales and Operations teams. teams. During the borrower’s journey from the request to the funding, these teams have to collaborate in the exchange of information and have independently to perform the compliance tasks for all requests allowing to have a strong compliance framework.
In relation to the technology, the direct contact with the Tech/Product teams allows us to constantly improve the tools. These tools help the analysts to perform their tasks. Within the credit team, although each country focuses on its domestic deals, there is a constant communication and search for ways to improve processes.
How has your work changed with the evolution of October technology?
Technology has been a game changer for the credit team and October as a whole. Thanks to years of experience in lending activities, the Tech/Data/Product teams have developed high quality tools to improve the processes. We use these tools in credit analysis to both reduce human error and analysis time.
As a result, October launched in 2021 the Instant process where the time to fully analyse a deal reduced considerably thanks to automatization and data analysis.
How does the approval process work?
Once a company is eligible and complies with all of the credit and compliance checks, the approval process is an efficient and transparent process. Using technology, all of the interactions with the client and with the members of the committee get recorded. It allows us to maintain control during the borrower journey, including the repayment of the loan.
Behind the scenes, as Head of Credit, what do you love most about your work?
What I love the most about my work is the direct contact with customers and the effect that my job has on the real economy. SMEs are the pillar of the world economy and generate the most jobs. Being able to help them is very rewarding, especially taking into account that they are not fully served by the traditional banking industry.
What perspectives do you foresee for the future?
In the quickly changing world we live in, it’s difficult to predict what will happen. However, October has always reacted rapidly in every change of context in the economy. We were the first to give our borrowers a grace period in the first and worst moments of the pandemic. The day after the Ukraine war started we had identified all of the potential borrowers with activity in the area to anticipate the possible actions, in terms of pricing. Our flexible structure allows us to anticipate changes in interest rates to align with the interests of our investors.
Would you find out more on our teams? Let’s follow the next article of our Behind the scenes series.